Alonso ran second behind him Max Verstappen when heavy rain halfway through the race caused chaos and confusion, leading several drivers to pit for wet weather tires.
The Spaniard battled for a set of medium tires on lap 55 when the rain was still light, but the weather deteriorated dramatically in the minutes that followed, forcing Alonso back into the pits for intermediates.
Verstappen stayed on the track longer before switching to the intermediates for his only pit stop, leaving the reigning world champion with a huge lead over Alonso to seal his fourth win in six races.
“I was surprised that they took the medium tire and that completely freed us from the hook and then you had to pit and turn the car around,” said Horner.
“I think in retrospect 20:20 we should probably have pitted one lap earlier to go to the inters.
“But then (Verstappen) was very mature when the rain came. He took it steady, brought tires and really closed the race. “
Explaining Aston Martin’s thought behind the call, team boss Mike Krack admitted “there was a bit of a misjudgment”.
“Honestly, we didn’t expect that much rain,” Krack said.
“So we thought it was just a quick shower and a quick dry as the track was very hot.
“Honestly, we thought we could go all the way with the media.
“But we misjudged it a little bit that it was raining because on part of the track it took a very long time before it started to rain and it rained the least.
“It was probably a bit of a misjudgment because we also thought the spacers would wear out a lot in this part of the track.
“Ultimately, the decision to go to the media was a conscious decision. And then a lap later we saw that it wouldn’t work. “
Aston Martin’s decision not to go straight to intermediates has led many to suggest that the team has lost an opportunity to potentially end Red Bull’s winning streak in 2023.
But Alonso insisted after the race Aston Martin had “no chance” victory, adding that “on every tyre, in every condition, Max was always 15 or 20 seconds ahead of us.”
And Krack echoed his star driver’s assessment, saying: “I don’t think it’s lost.
“Because if we matched adapters, Max would also match adapters and had a gap.
“So I don’t think it’s going to make much difference.”
